July 20, 1974: Willie Stargell’s 11th-inning home run beats Braves on Hank Aaron Day in Atlanta

As a visitor, Willie Stargell made power-hitting memories in many National League ballparks: upper-     deck shots at Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium and Montreal’s Olympic Stadium,1 a swimming pool splashdown at Montreal’s Jarry Park,2 the first two home runs to completely clear Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium,3 and a potential four-homer day at Chicago’s Wrigley Field denied by a railing atop the ivy-covered wall.4

Of the parks in use for the majority of Stargell’s career, his top home-run destination by frequency was Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium,5 whose fences he cleared in nearly every third game he played there with the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1966 through 1982. On a 1974 stop in Atlanta, Stargell even upstaged the Braves’ celebration of home-run king Henry Aaron. Stargell’s three-hit night on July 20 included a go-ahead 11th-inning homer off Danny Frisella, and the resurgent Pirates won their seventh game in a row, 7-6.

Ever since the Braves’ 1966 relocation from Milwaukee to Atlanta, Stargell thrived in homer-friendly Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, known as the “Launching Pad.”6 He spoiled the first-ever regular-season contest there with a game-winning 13th-inning home run off Tony Cloninger,7 then homered again less than 24 hours later.8 In August 1970, Stargell bashed out two home runs and three doubles and drove in six runs in a nationally televised game,9 and he hit four homers in a two-game span in Atlanta in April 1971.10

When Pittsburgh made its first visit of 1974 to Atlanta, Stargell continued his slugging with a two-run homer off fellow future Hall of Famer Phil Niekro in a 5-3 win on April 24.11 But the Pirates were losing more often than they won; by June 7, they were 14 games under .500 and last in the six-team NL East Division.

They arrived in Atlanta for the second time in ’74 on a modest four-game winning streak, which they extended by blanking the Braves in both of the first two games of the four-game series.12 Pittsburgh’s 44-49 record was fourth in the NL East but just 3½ games behind the first-place Philadelphia Phillies.

The series’ second game, a 2-0 Pirates win, was Aaron’s 3,033rd career game – equaling what was believed to be Ty Cobb’s major-league record.13 Aaron’s apparent record-breaking game, three months after he had overtaken Babe Ruth’s career home-run mark, coincided with a planned Hank Aaron Day celebration on Saturday.14

In a pregame ceremony, before a crowd of 40,225, the Braves commemorated Aaron’s 715th home run with a diamond ring, and he also received gifts from representatives of 20 cities and six      states,15 along with a set of cufflinks gifted long-distance by Venezuelan President Carlos Andrés Pérez.16

“There were all his bubble gum cards, framed; boats, a shotgun, canoe, camping equipment, clothing, golf equipment, a Georgian of the Year award and even a lion cub from citizens of Henry County,” the Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported.17

The final gift was a Cadillac convertible. Governor Jimmy Carter presented Aaron with Georgia license plate “HLA715” for the new car.18

Aaron then took the field for the 3,034th time in the majors behind right-hander Carl Morton, who had picked up his 11th win of the season 10 days earlier in Pittsburgh.19 At 50-47, the Braves were fourth in the NL West Division, 14 games behind the front-running Los Angeles Dodgers.

Rennie Stennett led off with a chopper to third and reached third when Darrell Evans’ throw sailed over the head of first baseman Davey Johnson.20 Richie Hebner singled home Stennett, then took third as Al Oliver singled to extend his hitting streak to 16 games.

Stargell was up next. A season earlier, the Pittsburgh left fielder had led the majors with 43 homers and 119 RBIs, finished second in the NL’s MVP voting to Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds, and made his third straight All-Star Game. But the 34-year-old Stargell’s 1974 output had been more modest, with 14 home runs and 49 RBIs going into the game, and NL manager Yogi Berra had declined to select him as a reserve for the All-Star Game, to be played three days later at Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Stadium.21

Against Morton, Stargell singled home Hebner and advanced to second when the throw to third was too late to get Oliver.22 Two runners were in scoring position for Richie Zisk, who drove in both with a single. The Pirates had a quick 4-0 lead.

Righty Bruce Kison, making his second consecutive start after spending most of the season in the bullpen,23 extended Pittsburgh’s scoreless innings streak to 20 in the first inning before the zeroes ended decisively in the second. Dusty Baker began the rally with a single, and Kison hit Marty Perez with a pitch one out later. Stennett’s bobble of Paul Casanova’s bouncer loaded the bases.24

Morton looked at a third strike, but Ralph Garr—leading the NL with a .363 batting average—hit Kison’s pitch over the first-base bag and down the right-field line.25 The ball bounced away from Zisk in the corner.26 Garr had a bases-clearing triple, and it was a 4-3 game.

Six days earlier in Pittsburgh, Kison’s tight pitching had been at the flashpoint of a massive brawl between the Pirates and Reds; he hit 11 batters in 1974, more than any NL pitcher besides Bill Greif of the San Diego Padres.27 One of Kison’s pitches had knocked down Braves shortstop Craig Robinson in the first inning, and Kison hit Robinson in the wrist in the second, the second hit batsman of the inning.28 Evans’ single then scored Garr with the tying run, and Aaron’s bad-hop single off Hebner’s glove at third—career hit 3,560—put Atlanta ahead, 5-4.29

Morton returned to the mound with a one-run lead, but the end of his outing was near. Johnson fielded Hebner’s leadoff grounder and threw to Morton, covering the bag. Morton reached for the throw, recorded the putout, and collapsed with a sprained right ankle.30

Braves manager Eddie Mathews brought in Lew Krausse, who was in his 12th and final big-league season. Krausse retired Oliver for the second out, but Stargell hit an opposite-field double to left, and Zisk followed with another run-scoring single, tying the game.

It became a battle of middle relief. Pittsburgh’s John Morlan had replaced Kison after Aaron’s RBI single in the second and induced Baker’s first-pitch flyout to center.31 Morlan then put up four scoreless innings in a row, allowing just four baserunners—two of which were career .133-hitter Krausse on a walk and an infield single, Atlanta’s only hit against Morlan.

Krausse matched Morlan with scoreless frames in the fourth, fifth, and sixth. Aided by two double plays, he faced the minimum of nine Pirates during that span. With one out in the seventh, however, Krausse hit eight-place hitter Frank Taveras with a pitch. Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh sent up Bob Robertson—who had contributed pinch-hit doubles in each of the previous two games—to bat for Morlan.

Taveras stole second, then Robertson made it three straight nights with pinch-hit doubles by hitting Krausse’s pitch inside third and down the line.32 Taveras scored, and the Pirates led, 6-5.

Murtaugh entrusted the lead to lefty Ramón Hernández, a Brave when his big-league career began in 1967. First baseman Ed Kirkpatrick’s throwing error on Evans’ grounder immediately put the potential tying run on second,33 but Hernández retired Aaron, Baker, and Johnson to strand Evans.

The Braves again put their leadoff man on second in the eighth when Perez doubled against Hernández. Leo Foster pinch-ran, and Casanova squared to bunt. But he popped it up, and Hernández plucked it out of the air and threw to second, doubling off Foster.34

Still, Atlanta had an equalizer in its arsenal. Iván Murrell, batting for reliever Tom House, hit Hernández’s pitch over the fence in left-center, knotting the game at 6-6.35

The tie held into extra innings. In June the Braves had called up eight-year veteran Joe Niekro from Triple A to join his brother Phil on their roster. Niekro, himself now throwing a knuckleball, set down all six Pirates he faced in the ninth      and 10th innings.36

Pittsburgh’s Dave Giusti, who had saved the previous night’s game in a two-batter outing, pitched a one-two-three ninth. Atlanta threatened in the 10th when Johnson walked with one out, moved up on a wild pitch, and stopped at third on Frank Tepedino’s infield single. Niekro’s spot was due, and Mathews sent up veteran Norm Miller to pinch-hit. Oliver hauled in Miller’s fly ball at the fence to send the game to the 11th.37

Mathews’ fifth pitcher of the night was Frisella. Batting first against the 28-year-old right-hander was Stargell, who connected on a deep drive into the right-field seats. A wire account estimated Stargell’s 15th homer of the season and 336th of his career at 425 feet.38 The Pirates led, 7-6.

The Braves had one last chance. Garr led off the bottom of the 11th by singling for his majors-best 148th hit of the season, and Johnny Oates sacrificed him to second.39 The potential tying record was on second for Evans, with Aaron on-deck. But Giusti retired Evans on a pop-up and Aaron on a grounder to end the game.

Pittsburgh closed out the four-game sweep a day later. The Braves fired the 42-year-old Mathews after the game.40 The Pirates won 40 of 55 games from July 14 through September 10 and won the NL East by 1½ games over the St. Louis Cardinals. Stargell’s 25 home runs led Pittsburgh and were tied for sixth-most in the NL.

For his career, Stargell hit 25 home runs, drove in 63 runs, and slugged almost .600 in 80 games in Atlanta.41

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Larry DeFillipo and copy-edited by Mike Eisenbath.

Photo credit: Willie Stargell, Trading Card Database.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for pertinent information, including the box score and play-by-play.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ATL/ATL197407200.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1974/B07200ATL1974.htm

Notes

1 Bill Conlin, “Stargell’s Homer No Chicken Little,” Philadelphia Daily News, June 26, 1971: 36; Russ Franke, “Stargell Turns on the Power, 6-0: 2 Home Runs Back Blyleven’s 3-Hitter,” Pittsburgh Press, May 21, 1978: D-1.

2 John Robertson, “Expos’ Mauch Looked Like Tarzan – After Missing a Vine,” Montreal Star, July 17, 1969: 21.

3 Ross Newhan, “Apollo 12? Stargell’s Blast Flattens Dodgers,” Los Angeles Times, August 6, 1969: III,1; Ross Newhan, “Stargell Slugs a Pair, But Cey’s Homer Wins,” Los Angeles Times, May 9, 1973: III,1.

4 Richard Dozer, “Stargell of Pirates Hits 3 Home Runs: Niekro Is Chased in Fifth,” Chicago Tribune, May 23, 1968: 3,1.

5 Stargell’s rate of one      home run per 3.14 games at St. Louis’s first Busch Stadium was slightly higher than his rate of one      home run per 3.2 games at Atlanta Stadium, but he played in Busch Stadium in only four seasons (1963-1966) and 22 games.

6 Among major-league parks, the 2,667 total home runs hit at Atlanta Stadium from 1966 through 1982 were exceeded only by two American League parks whose home-run counts benefitted from the adoption of the designated hitter 1973: Tiger Stadium (2,734) and Fenway Park (2,677). Wrigley Field was second among NL stadiums with 2,431.

7 Wayne Minshew, “Braves Fall to Pirates 3-2 in 13,” Atlanta Constitution, April 13, 1966: 1.

8 Wilt Browning, “Law Appeals His Milwaukee Case: Vern Blanks the Braves for Sweep,” Atlanta Journal, April 14, 1966: 45.

9 Bill Christine, “Buc Avalanche Buries Braves: Four Homers Among 22 Hits in 20-10 Win,” Pittsburgh Press, August 2, 1970: 4,1; Wilt Browning, “Braves Suffer 20-10 Laugher: Nationwide TV Audience Watches It,” Atlanta Journal-Atlanta Constitution, August 2, 1970: 1C.

10 Bill Christine, “Braves Beat Pirates in 12th, 5-4,” Pittsburgh Press, April 11, 1971: 4,2.

11 Wayne Minshew, “Buc Homer Binge Crushes Braves,” Atlanta Constitution, April 25, 1974: 1-E.

12 Jeff Samuels, “Reuss ‘Masterminds’ Braves, 4-0: Pirates Win Fifth Straight; Robertson Knocks in Two,” Pittsburgh Press, July 19, 1974: 23; Jeff Samuels, “Giusti Puts Icing on Brett’s 2-0 Shutout,” Pittsburgh Press, July 20, 1974: 6.

13 AP Wirephoto, “Ties Ty’s Record,” Indiana (Pennsylvania) Gazette, July 20, 1974: 13. As of July 2026, Baseball-Reference.com credits Cobb with 3,034 career games played, and Retrosheet.org and MLB.com credit him with 3,035 games.

14 “Aaron Day Set for July,” Macon (Georgia) Telegraph and News, June 23, 1974: 5B.

15 Wayne Minshew, “One More Time: Aaron Honored Lavishly Before 40,225,” Atlanta Journal and Atlanta Constitution, July 21, 1974: 4-D.

16 Associated Press, “Aaron Breaks Cobb’s Record,” Columbus (Georgia) Ledger-Enquirer, July 21, 1974: C-1. Pérez appears to have been at the U.N. Conference for the Law of the Sea in Caracas, Venezuela on this date. Stanley Meisler, “Greed Takes over as Nations Divide the Oceans,” Los Angeles Times, July 21, 1974: VIII, 1.

17 Minshew, “One More Time.”

18 Minshew, “One More Time”; “Peach of a Guy,” Pittsburgh Press, July 21, 1974: D-2.

19 Wayne Minshew, “Braves’ Explosion Routs Pirates,” Atlanta Constitution, July 11, 1974: 1-D.

20 Jeff Samuels, “Bucs Ride Stargell Rocket, 7-6: Blast in 11th Sinks Braves,” Pittsburgh Press, July 21, 1974: D1.

21 Associated Press, “No Pirates Listed Among All-Star Reserves,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 19, 1974: 12.

22 Samuels, “Bucs Ride Stargell Rocket, 7-6.”

23 Kison began the day with a 5-4 record and 2.92 ERA.

24 Associated Press, “Bucs Beat Braves,” Columbus (Georgia) Ledger-Enquirer, July 21, 1974: C-1.

25 Associated Press, “Bucs Beat Braves.”

26 Samuels, “Bucs Ride Stargell Rocket, 7-6.”

27 Bob Hertzel, “Reds-Bucs Brawl Exploded When Sparky …,” Cincinnati Enquirer, July 15, 1974: 27. Greif hit 14 batters in 1974.

28 Samuels, “Bucs Ride Stargell Rocket, 7-6.”

29 Samuels, “Bucs Ride Stargell Rocket, 7-6”; Associated Press, “Bucs Beat Braves.”

30 Samuels, “Bucs Ride Stargell Rocket, 7-6.”

31 Samuels, “Bucs Ride Stargell Rocket, 7-6.”

32 Samuels, “Bucs Ride Stargell Rocket, 7-6.”

33 Samuels, “Bucs Ride Stargell Rocket, 7-6.”

34 Samuels, “Bucs Ride Stargell Rocket, 7-6.”

35 Samuels, “Bucs Ride Stargell Rocket, 7-6.” It was the 33rd and final home run of Murrell’s 10-season big-league career.

36 Lonnie Wheeler, “Niekro’s Time Arrives,” Anderson (South Carolina) Independent, June 18, 1974: 6A.

37 Wayne Minshew, “Stargell’s 11th-Inning Homer Sinks Braves,” Atlanta Journal and Atlanta Constitution, July 21, 1974: 4-D.

38 United Press International, “Stargell’s Slam Gives Pirates 7-6 Decision,” Scrantonian (Pennsylvania) Tribune, July 21, 1974: 55.

39 Oates had entered the game at catcher in the 10th inning.

40 Wayne Minshew, “Stumbling Braves Fire Eddie Mathews,” Atlanta Constitution, July 22, 1974: 1-A. The Braves went 38-25-1 under Clyde King and finished third in the NL West at 88-74-1, matching the Pirates in wins and losses.

41 The only visiting players who hit more home runs in Atlanta from 1966 through 1982 were Johnny Bench (32 homers in 115 games) and Willie McCovey (32 homers in 92 games).